Arashi's age NG! Unreasonable demand from Johnny's
Arashi's age NG! Unreasonable request from Johnny's
Tousupo Web 8/31 (Friday) Delivered 17:16
NTV summer tradition, "２４ Hour Television 35 Love Saves the World" took place on the 25th and 26th. Idol group "Arashi" took the position as the main personality, but offstage, there were picky demands from the Johnny's side that showed up on the sight.
This is the third time Arashi has been chosen as the main personality; the last two times were 2004 and 2008. Being popular among all generations, it is perfect for Arashi to participate in a national charity program. However behind the scenes, there seemed to be many unreasonable demands as usual.
On particular problem, was the age of Arashi's members. Their outward appearance is seen as 'refreshing good young men', but following their leader Ohno Satoshi (31), Sakurai Sho (30), Aiba Masaki (29), Ninomiya Kazunari (29), and Matsumoto Jun (28)* are all around 30 years of age. Ohno and Sakurai have reached the big three-O (30).
Certainly, there probably are people who have opinions such as, "An idol in their thirties...?" However the members of Arashi don't especially hide their ages.
The thing is, Johnny's agency is tingling with anger with the fact that all members of Arashi are around 30 years old. Even the people around the agency are shocked that they are getting angry over their talents' age. They have banned [Arashi] from talking about ages.**
"Of course, they use the past two appearance scenes (2004 and 2008) during the program and even before it when they PR on other programs. When those VTR are shown, it is natural [for the host] to ask 'How old are you now?' during the conversation, but it seems that Johnny's did not allow that. It seems like Arashi's age problem is an 'issue that will threaten their idol life' (bitterly smiles)," says an NTV associate.
A Geinou Pro associate explained, "The members of Arashi themselves don't really care about their ages. However as an agency, they don't want Arashi to be thought as 'surprisingly old' because the youngsters below Arashi (kouhai) are not fully grown yet."
source
* Jun is 29 now. This article was published on the 31st, but it seems like Tousupo didn't know his birthday was on the 30th. (By the way, Otanjoubi Omedetou J!!! ^^)
** When they say banned, I'm thinking only during 24 Hour Television because people nation wide watches the program, regardless of if Arashi was the main personality or not. On their regular programs, mostly fans (who already know their ages) watch it, so it's not as big of a problem if they talk about their ages.
Also, keep in mind that this is Tousupo (Tokyo Sports). It's similar to Cyzo Woman, and they had problems about lying in their articles in the past.